Portland's Woodstock residents fight 7-Eleven, and maybe reality

Several years ago, my spouse and I were mid-meal at an outdoor restaurant when a woman approached and asked for money.

The woman said she was hungry and needed change to buy food. We offered her an apple and a slice of bread that came with my salad.

She picked the bread up, gave it a skeptical once-over and then slapped it back down on the table. “That’s sunflower seed bread, isn’t it?” she said. “Yuck.”

The anecdote and its apparent moral – beggars can be choosers –came to mind this week as I talked to people in Southeast Portland about plans for a new strip mall at Woodstock Boulevard and 52nd Avenue.

Neighbors are angry because the anchor tenant will be a 7-Eleven, which doesn’t fit with the small-village vibe planners and property owners want along the main drag of this charming, changing neighborhood. Residents would prefer a bakery or a brewpub, something more family-oriented and more likely to be used by Woodstock residents rather than passers-by desperate for a Big Gulp.

A fair request. Legally, however, there’s little neighbors can do besides rail about the fact that there are eight convenience stores within a half-mile or so. The developer doesn’t need a zoning change, just the proper permits. And he makes his own valid point: Even with the problems a poorly run 7-Eleven might bring – crime, loitering, cigarette butts on the sidewalk – his project is better than what’s there.

An Arby’s there closed two years ago. Since then, its blocky beige-and-red building has been vacant, dust gathering on the windows, graffiti on the outer walls and all sorts of garbage in the back alley, including a soggy, stained couch. The old fast-food joint sits next to a Goodwill store and across the street from two auto shops and a small hair salon.

“We’re talking about making this safer and more attractive; right now, it’s an eyesore,” said Michael Jenkins, a commercial real-estate developer. “It’s been two years. Burgerville looked at the property and couldn’t make the numbers work. This is a good option.”

Frustrated neighbors have started a blog – woodstockcares.blogspot.com – and pledged to resist until the end. More than 70 people showed up for a meeting this week, and after two days of signature-gathering, organizers had more than 150 names. They hope to convince 7-Eleven that this isn’t the right spot, and to convince Jenkins to find more suitable tenants.

“It’s not just the 7-Eleven, with all the problems it can create,” said Kenny Heggem, a neighbor. “We also don’t want to see a Dotty’s or a Pizza Hut or a check-cashing place, or any of the kinds of businesses that can follow 7-Eleven.”

If it were my neighborhood, I’d do and say the same things. And yet, what’s going on in up-and-coming Woodstock is a smaller-scale version of the conversation taking place downtown, where Mayor Sam Adams is in early talks with Target executives about a store in The Galleria, or Jantzen Beach, where Walmart officials want to open. In those cases, neighbors make the same arguments: We should encourage small, locally owned businesses in Portland, the kind that use organic ingredients, sell in small enough quantities to carry by bike or foot and pump profits back into the neighborhood economy.

As a general operating principle, that’s exactly right. As a practical matter, it isn’t always realistic, particularly in a recession.

Sunflower-seed bread might not be your first choice, but isn’t it better than nothing?